Surface-hydrogenated CrMnO_x coupled with GaN nanowires for light-driven bioethanol dehydration to ethylene

Light-driven bioethanol dehydration offers attractive outlooks for the sustainable production of ethylene. Herein, a surface-hydrogenated CrMnO_x is coupled with GaN nanowires (GaN@CMO-H) for light-driven ethanol dehydration to ethylene. Through combined experimental and computational investigations, a surface hydrogen-replenishment mechanism is proposed to disclose the ethanol dehydration pathway over GaN@CMO-H. Moreover, the surface-hydrogenated GaN@CMO-H can significantly lower the reaction energy barrier of the C₂H₅OH-to-C₂H₄ conversion by switching the rate-determining reaction step compared to both GaN and GaN@CMO. Consequently, the surface-hydrogenated GaN@CMO-H illustrates a considerable ethylene production activity of 1.78 mol·g_cat^-1·h^-1 with a high turnover number of 94,769 mole ethylene per mole CrMnO_x. This work illustrates a new route for sustainable ethylene production with the only use of bioethanol and sunlight beyond fossil fuels.